In The Last Days

Don't go.

The girls picked her up at the restaurant at six and dropped her home and promised to come back by 8 pm to pick her up.

"Bye. And thanks again for the lift." Rose said as she got down the car.

"No problem Rose, just make sure you're ready by then." Jenna casually said.

She nodded. The car zoomed off into the distance and she took a second to ponder on the situation as she stood by the sidewalk looking at the cars that were constantly wheezing by, containing more heads than she could count on both fingers and toes combined. She could hear the loud music coming from the party down the street.

Then she saw some ladies in an Impala all in their swimming suits.

Was this really a good idea?

"What might or might not be a good idea?" Rose flew literarily six feet into the air.

Her hand flew to her chest in shock as she gazed at the amused smile of Michael, the boy who'd approached her earlier in the empty class.

It was the mystery guy that had ambushed her in school earlier that day. How he had snuck up on her was beyond her.

Embarrassed and still startled, she punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Don't do that, urgh!" Rose groaned. He chuckled, leaning away from the punch.

"How did you do that?" She asked still perplexed.

Michael chuckled.

"You were too distracted by the paint job on the cars." He teased. Rose flushed embarrassed.

"So what are you doing out here?" She asked wondering what a guy like him was doing in these streets. Unless he was on his way to the party himself.

"Try not to explode, but I kinda live next door." He confessed. And explode she did.

"What?! Since when?" She definitely had not seen that one coming. He winced at how loud her voice was.

Michael took a few steps back, his hands in a surrendering posture.

"Since today." He replied. Rose gasped. What?

They didn't have a neighbor, and you'd have to be peculiarly rich to be on that side of the streets. Rose raised a suspicious brow.

"Who are you?" She asked examining him as her eyes trailed down his frame. Michael looked confused for a second, not even bothering to say anything about her checking him out.

"I don't follow." He said. Rose rephrased her words.

"You have to be particularly wealthy to live here." She said. She'd guessed that much initially from the way he dressed. He chuckled understanding.

"My dad runs his own pharmaceutical company." He answered effortlessly.

She nodded impressed.

"Your mum came over this morning, I must say the cookies were delicious. Help me thank her will you." He said smiling. And all of a sudden having him as a neighbor didn't seem so terrible.

"Sure." She smiled back.

"About what you said in school today, what was that about?" Rose said abruptly, his words had been on her mind since that morning. He seemed to expect it because he smiled.